Return to the Temple Mount!

Here's a video I took the other day with a long-distance view of the Dome of the Rock and the Temple Mount.   I know I showed you lots of pics of this last semester, but come with me again:

This is the courtyard in front of the Western Wall, a group of IDF soldiers gathering there. We often see large groups of soldiers in training, all healthy young men and women in Israel are required to serve in the army.

 This is a close-up of the Western Wall on the women's side...you can see the many slips of paper stuck in the cracks that have the written prayers and petitions on them.

 A little boy on his bike riding in the Hurva Square, in front of the Hurva Synagogue in the Jewish Quarter

 The five people in the foreground are all students I was waiting in line with to go up to the Temple Mount where the Dome of the Rock is. The Muslims only open this during certain restricted hours, and you are not allowed up there during their 5 times a day prayer times. You have to go through security first, then you cross the long wooden bridge that you saw in the video above to get up there.

 Now we're up on the Temple Mount, it is not crowded today.You can see the Dome of the Rock, the centerpiece of the Temple Mount, and the most recognized building and icon in Jerusalem.

 The Dome of the Rock is NOT a mosque (it's a shrine), but this is - The Al-Aqsa Mosque for public prayers is the first huge structure you come to when you get up on the Temple Mount. Only Muslims are allowed inside the Mosque or in the Dome of the Rock.

 This building is massive and aesthetically beautiful. Wouldn't be the same without that gold dome, however.

 This is the actual entrance to the Dome of the Rock. A couple of the guys we were with did approach the door to see if they could get in, but no way, they were turned away!

 Here's the side of the Dome, a few Muslim people sitting around outside it.

 Some children playing soccer on the Temple Mount. There are actually a couple schools up there.

 Here's the view of the Temple Mount side of the Eastern Gate (some people call it the Golden Gate). This is the gate that we believe the Lord Jesus will come through when He returns and comes down from the Mount of Olives, which it faces.

 The Olives are growing on the Temple Mount! There are so many Olive trees up there. They are not quite ripe yet, but maybe by next month they will be.

 Here we are, I'm the one in shades on the left:)  You can see several Olive trees in this shot.

 Now this is an interesting little Gazebo which sits just to the North east of the Dome of the Rock, and is right in line with the Eastern Gate. This Gazebo sits over a patch of exposed rock, it is the actual rock of Mount Moriah, visible amidst the paved stones of the Temple Mount that Herod built over the mountain.

 This exposed part of the mountain is very special and important. I have a dear friend (hi Edith!) who had a supernatural encounter with the Lord while at this very spot, and believes the Lord revealed to her that THIS was the very site of the Holy of Holies in the 2nd Temple, and this was the very place and rock where Isaac was bound, and the very place where Jesus' throne will be in the Millenial kingdom,etc (much more to her vision). The Muslims believe it was the rock that is beneath the Dome where Ishmael (not Isaac) was bound by Abraham....Well, one day we will see and know for sure, and every knee will bow....

 My new friend Matt standing on the rock of  Mount Moriah, beneath the gazebo.

 Is this the right place, Edith???

This picture is a little out of order, but shows some women facing the Western Wall, which is the only structure original to the 2nd Temple that is standing, a place sacred to many, and where hundreds of thousands of Jews and Christians come to pray each year.